Best passive attenuator?

fretmeister

what is good?

The good old Marshall Powerbrake is no longer available, the THD is a bit crap.

Is the Jet City Jettenuator any good? What other passive options are there?

I don’t need extreme attenuation, just a bit more control.

ta.

ICBM

There is no 'best', and even 'good' is difficult to really say, because it depends on the amp.

For example the THD is not a bit crap with Mesa and Fender BF/SF amps, it's one of the best if not the outright best... but it's really crap with Voxes and not good with Marshalls.

fretmeister

Going to be used with a Marshall Studio Classic 20.

ICBM

Probably the Powerbrake, although it's the only one I've tried with one so I don't have much comparison. It is still the best I've heard with a full-size Super Lead though.

Not too rare second hand, or expensive.

pintspiller

I think I got my Powerbrake a couple of years ago on eBay for £120. They went for £100-£150 at the time, not sure about nowadays.

fretmeister

pintspiller said:

I think I got my Powerbrake a couple of years ago on eBay for £120. They went for £100-£150 at the time, not sure about nowadays.

£160 to £200 on eBay now.

JezWynd

I use a Carl’s Custom unit. Very simple power soak type. Do these have ohm ratings? Something in the back of my mind says it is 8 ohm while my new amp is 16, so might be surplus to requirements.

mrkb

Ive got a Weber mini mass 50w I’m about to sell. I used that with an Origin 20 head. It has high frequency pass s tying to allow for the reduced treble at higher attenuation levels. Think the mini mass has a speaker coil inside which should be better that fixed resistors, but I don’t know the physics behind it.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

£160 to £200 on eBay now.

I wonder what price they need to get to before Marshall realise they need to be reissued...

An updated one with a line out - even un-emulated would be fine, since most people using a load box for recording use IRs - would probably sell.

John_A

Definitely a used Powerbrake for a Marshall, sound great!

zepp76

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

fretmeister

zepp76 said:

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

I was looking at that - seems a good unit.

John_A

fretmeister said:

zepp76 said:

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

I was looking at that - seems a good unit.

I'm sure it's good, but it's £400+  a used powerbrake will set you back £150 and will sound fantastic.  Can only see one on eBay at the moment, but they come up regularly

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marshall-Power-Brake-Attenuator-PB100-inutilizzato/153528654548?hash=item23bf055ad4:g:5QYAAOSwzLZdBNNp

zepp76

fretmeister said:

zepp76 said:

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

I was looking at that - seems a good unit.

It's well worth searching for a used one, I've seen them go for around £250 used, I got impatient and bought new costing me over £400 

fretmeister

John_A said:

fretmeister said:

zepp76 said:

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

I was looking at that - seems a good unit.

I'm sure it's good, but it's £400+  a used powerbrake will set you back £150 and will sound fantastic.  Can only see one on eBay at the moment, but they come up regularly

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marshall-Power-Brake-Attenuator-PB100-inutilizzato/153528654548?hash=item23bf055ad4:g:5QYAAOSwzLZdBNNp

The Powerbrakes seem to be getting popular again.

Sometimes hitting £200!

Jonathanthomas83

Honestly, for home use, I'd consider a Reactive Load and speaker cab loader. Offers you so much more flexibility.

https://medium.com/fretboard/how-to-get-a-great-guitar-tone-at-low-volume-without-a-speaker-cabinet-5bfd0371f9f6

I'm a bit evangelistic about this approach, but that's because the tones I'm getting are incredible. Stereo too, really nice.

fretmeister

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Honestly, for home use, I'd consider a Reactive Load and speaker cab loader. Offers you so much more flexibility.

https://medium.com/fretboard/how-to-get-a-great-guitar-tone-at-low-volume-without-a-speaker-cabinet-5bfd0371f9f6

Lots more money though.

If I ever record I use Native and my Helix.

Jonathanthomas83

fretmeister said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Honestly, for home use, I'd consider a Reactive Load and speaker cab loader. Offers you so much more flexibility.

https://medium.com/fretboard/how-to-get-a-great-guitar-tone-at-low-volume-without-a-speaker-cabinet-5bfd0371f9f6

Lots more money though.

If I ever record I use Native and my Helix.

Yes, I give you that, but wholly worth it IMO. I sold my Kemper and invested the money into this setup and haven't looked back. In fact, the money I raised allowed me to buy my dream amp and a little Marshall!

John_A

fretmeister said:

John_A said:

fretmeister said:

zepp76 said:

Not the cheapest option but the Rivera Rockcrusher works well with my Marshall, I don't try to attenuate down to quiet levels though, just enough to make it bearable at home levels.

I was looking at that - seems a good unit.

I'm sure it's good, but it's £400+  a used powerbrake will set you back £150 and will sound fantastic.  Can only see one on eBay at the moment, but they come up regularly

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marshall-Power-Brake-Attenuator-PB100-inutilizzato/153528654548?hash=item23bf055ad4:g:5QYAAOSwzLZdBNNp

The Powerbrakes seem to be getting popular again.

Sometimes hitting £200!

Still cheaper than A Rivera   Even at £200 I think they are good value.  I gigged a JTM45 and a Plexi for years with a powerbrake just to reduce the volume to loud enough to gig with without pissing everyone off and it was excellent

fretmeister

I'll save an ebay search for the Powerbrake and see if one comes up at a sensible price.

What about the Jet City Jettenuator? I see it's a Soldano design.

Any good?

TimmyO

Powerbrake is ace - I have an old one that I don't need but won't sell so it's out on long term loan.

I was mega impressed.with the Torpedo Reload I had too - will do silent recording/headphones too - expensive but sometimes come up used